Lake Johnson of CCS A-AA State Golf Leader

Notre Dame Boys in Second

Tuesday, October 1, 2013
- by B.B. Branton

MANCHESTER - Playing stellar Day One golf (5-under with no bogeys), Chattanooga Christian junior Lake Johnson leads the TSSAA D-I A-AA state boys field with a 67, one shot better than Alexander Riddle of Notre Dame who carded a 4-under 68 here Tuesday at the WillowBrook Golf Club.

While Johnson hopes to become the first CCS golfer to win an individual state crown, Riddle wants to help rally his teammates for the second Irish team crown in three years.

A-AA Boys Team Race: The boys’ team race has Alcoa (296, 8-over) in first place by 13 strokes over second place Notre Dame (309, 21-over) and third place Sullivan South (313, 25-over) in the eight-team field. Playing in its first boys’ state event as a team, Boyd Buchanan is in sixth with a 330.

Knocking on the Door - Third Time The Charm??: Alcoa has placed second (in 2012) and third (2011) the past two years ... with a veteran team, can the Tornadoes take home the championship?

In 2011, Alcoa led after Day One, but finished in third 12 shots behind champion Notre Dame ... In 2012, the Tornadoes were in second to eventual champion Macon County after Day One and finished runner-up. Similar to Notre Dame, Alcoa has one senior - Hunter Tidwell (Sr.) who has been here before ... Tidwell joins Matthew Giles (Jr.), Caden McLaughlin (So.) and Chris Ray (Jr.) and will make a run at the school's first golf brass ring.

A-AA Girls Team Race: On the girls side, Sullivan South (156, 12-over) leads by five shots with Milan (161) in second, followed by Macon County (162) and Boyd-Buchanan (166) in the eight-team field.

The Bucs top individual is Trent Mansfield (79) for the boys and Madison Balthrop (82) for the girls.

Other Irish golfers are Zach Bombassi (78), Reese Scobey (79), Jared Nelson (84) and Zach Riddle (92) are the top four scores count in the team total.

“We will have a pep talk tonight (Tuesday) as we know what it takes to win a state title,” said Alexander Riddle who earned a ring as a member of the 2011 championship squad.

Opening Tuesday’s round strong – eagle on No. 2 (chipped in from a green side bunker) on the way to a 3-under front nine – Riddle wants a second title before a college golf career awaits him at Tennessee Tech.

“We are a lot better than what we shot today as we shot a 297 on this course earlier in the season,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Fisher who noted that Alcoa led the Irish in 2011, but his team rallied for the championship rings.

"Are we happy with finishing second or are we going to come out and finish strong?

"Reese shot a 69 on this course earlier this fall and if he can match that score Wednesday and if Alcoa comes back to the field, which is a possibility, then it could be 'game on' and will come down to the final nine."

Notes:Lake Johnson opened with an even par 36 on the back nine, and then scored birdie-birdie-par-birdie to be 3-under after four holes on the final nine ... then went par-par ... and closed with birdie-par-birdie for a 31 ... 5 birdies, bogey free

Alexander Riddle ... opened with par-eagle-par on first three holes ... then 1-over on next three and 2-under to close out front nine ... he biridied 13 on the back for a 35 .... 33-35--68

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